Winter of Yggdrasil

Chapter 16

Upon returning, Kenna made a beeline for Merek's room, bypassing checking in with her parents and Thor and instead opting for the only person who truly knew everything about her. It was still early, and without Kenna to accompany all day, Merek had chosen to stay in. She found him sitting cross-legged at the foot of his bed, a book in hand but his gaze staring blankly at the fire. She sat beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. His shoulders rose as he took a deep breath and fell as he sighed loudly.

"I dislike it when you go away." He mumbled into her hair. She felt pressure at the crown of her head, assuming he'd pressed a kiss there. "It feels... colder."

"Did you sulk?"

He laughed softly. "I do not sulk."

"Mom says otherwise." She pushed her thoughts outward, finding his almost on instinct and searching out the memory of her absence. There was a kind of emptiness in his thoughts, a gap noticeably left by the distance of her own mind. How odd, she thought, that a Jotun's thoughts warmed the heart of an old man like Merek.

He pinched her. "I am still well enough to beat you in the arena."

She laughed but it faded quickly as his thoughts pushed back, searching with a tinge of concern. He bypassed the memories of her ride home and her day with Rowan, instead checking her sleep.

"I had a nightmare." She admitted.  She wouldn't be able to sleep well for a few nights. He didn't say anything. His arms wrapped around her and he sighed into her hair.

"It's alright." He murmured. "Stay here. Rest."

She shook her head but couldn't help relaxing into him anyway. He was silent for a long time and the quiet crackle of fire killed her into a half doze. Her eyes began to droop as all the tension leaked out of her body. Her heart dropped and her body jolted up. The darkness had wrapped around her for a moment, dragging her down too fast. He held her tighter and shushed her.

"It's alright, Tallah."

She swallowed, glancing around into the shadows of the room by habit. His hand curled towards the fire and the flames bloomed outward. She relaxed again, resting against his side. He flipped his book back open, one hand rubbing her back slowly.

When she woke, she was in her room and he was practicing something in the open space in the middle. She tracked him with her eyes, fearing movement would distract him. His eyes were closed and he stood with his feet together, floating two feet off the floor. His hands were outstretched loosely, palms towards the ceiling. He exhaled and rose another foot, his head tipping back. A light green mist began to envelop his feet. His hands rose slowly, swinging in a narrow arc before the palms came together in front of his chest. The mist moved up, covering his body, wrapping around him in writhing tendrils. He breathed out and they climbed outwards, creating a form that almost resembled a tree.

He spoke under his breath, mumbling words vaguely familiar only because she had heard him sing in his language once. His eyes opened and the mist dissipated as he fell back to the floor. He sighed loudly, his hands pushing down from his chest, calming the energy she could still feel roiling through him. It was nothing like she'd ever felt, stronger than the Tesseract, than Thanos, than her at her most dangerous.

But it was... lively, gentle, everything Merek had ever been to her condensed into an energy signature that made her heart pound with equal measures of fear and envy. To hold so much creative power simultaneously with destructive will and to hold it with such poise and care... oh she envied him.

He was smiling at her. "It is a curse as much as a gift. Did I wake you?"

She shook her head. "How long were you at it?"